Herman Cain | All Articles

Herman Cain

Imagine living in a neighborhood where most of your neighbors wish you would move away. Since you have a right to be there and it happens to be the home of many generations of your family, you refuse to be intimidated into leaving, even though you are frequently violently attacked and your family members are sometimes killed. Although painfully saddened, your resolve to remain in your neighborhood is not weakened.

Last week I documented what I thought was a major crisis of leadership in the White House regarding our national debate over the debt ceiling and debt. The crisis in the Oval Office is apparently even worse than I thought --- and frankly, I thought it was pretty bad to begin with.

After being AWOL on the debt-ceiling debate for weeks, President Obama is now trying to swoop in like some superhero who is somehow above the fray in Washington. He is trying to convince us that he is the lone leader among 535 want-to-be congressional leaders. And if they do not solve this Obama-created crisis, Obama is positioning himself again to blame the Republicans.

Paying taxes is a fact of life, because there are certain things that our federal government must provide, as enumerated in the Constitution. But paying taxes does not have to be unfair, burdensome and costly. Our current system of taxation is all three.

I have developed many strategic plans for success during my 40-year business career, but the one I am about to present for the nation is the most humbling. Business strategic plans have to capture the keys to profitability and growth. This national economic vision must capture the keys to prosperity for everyone who has a desire to achieve his or her American dream.

During the New Hampshire presidential debate last week, a lady named Sylvia asked, “What would the Republicans do about health care if they repealed Obamacare?” Her question never got answered. I even pointed that out to the CNN host, John King, and offered to answer her question, but he never got back to me.

A senior Obama administration official said recently that the private sector will have to lead this economic recovery. He’s right! But the private sector cannot do it unless government gets out of the way. The Obama administration’s policies have increased the size of the federal government, increased regulatory barriers and dramatically increased the national debt.

We hear all about America’s problems every day. We can’t get away from them, especially when the bad news is compounded with more bad news about natural disasters. The latest economic and jobs news is yet another indication that this nation’s problems are getting worse and stifling our prosperity.

Wow! I must be causing some people quite a concern as a candidate for the Republican nomination for president. The establishment skeptics are still stuck in the traditional campaign paradigm of immediate name ID, lots of money, and having held a worthy elective office before. The critics are pounding on what they perceive as my weaknesses. And the Democratic National Committee now has me on its radar and is sharpening its blades for a Cain attack.

Ever since the South Carolina Republican presidential debate, reporters have challenged me for not having a specific plan for our nation’s involvement in Afghanistan. They continue to think that if you are running for president then you must have an answer for everything. I don’t! A real leader has the right questions for everything.

“Fellow patriots of this exceptional nation, the United States of America, we need real economic growth. We need a real energy independence plan. We need realnational security clarity. But most of all, we need real leadership, and not more political position-ship. God bless you, and God is blessing America.”

Many economists have estimated that if China’s gross domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at approximately 10 percent annually, and the United States’ GDP continues to grow at its anemic rate of 2.5 percent or less, then China’s GDP will be bigger than ours in 15 to 20 years.

President Obama recently said that the economic situation when he took office was worse than he had thought at the time. That’s code for “blame Bush” again for Obama’s failed economic policies, which have not stimulated the economy.

While the budget drama in Washington, D.C. went back and forth last week over the federal fiscal year 2011 budget, lawmakers and the mainstream media missed the real opportunity. It’s not whether President Obama or House Speaker John Boehner won on the deal, or the paltry savings they agreed on.

The president believes in energy security. I believe in energy independence. In case you missed the president’s weekly radio address, here is what the White House released on energy security, so I will not be accused of not understanding what they meant. The title of the address was “Energy Security Can Only Come If We Invest in Cleaner Fuels and Greater Efficiency.”

In the early 1970s, America’s dependence on foreign oil was a little over 20 percent. Today, our dependence on foreign oil is over 65 percent. We have become more and more energy dependent because we have never had a serious energy independence strategy, and we still do not have one.

We have a crisis of crises in this country and some people continue to make the false claim that the Tea Party movement is racist, simply because many of us disagree with the policies of the Obama administration. They also play the race card to try to dismiss President Obama’s leadership deficiencies.